65% Parahydrogen from a liquid nitrogen cooled generator

SABRE hyperpolarization of nicotinamide derivatives and their molecular dynamics properties

Signal amplification by reversible exchange hyperpolarization explores the chemical structure and kinetic properties of nicotinamide derivatives. N-Benzyl nicotinamide and nicotinic acid hydrazide compounds display relatively fast dissociation rates of approximately 7-8 s-1 and long proton T1 relaxation times of 5-20 s, respectively. Consequently, these substrates exhibit remarkable signal enhancements, reaching approximately 175 and 102 fold, respectively, underscoring the efficacy of the hyperpolarization technique in elucidating the behavior of these compounds.

Temperature lowering of liquid nitrogen via injection of helium gas bubbles improves the generation of parahydrogen-enriched gas

The para spin isomer of hydrogen gas possesses high nuclear spin order that can enhance the NMR signals of a variety of molecular species. Hydrogen is routinely enriched in the para spin state by lowering the gas temperature while flowing through a catalyst. Although parahydrogen enrichments approaching 100% are achievable near the H2 liquefaction temperature of 20 K, many experimentalists operate at liquid nitrogen temperatures (77 K) due to the lower associated costs and overall simplicity of the parahydrogen generator. Parahydrogen that is generated at 77 K provides an enrichment value of ~51% of the para spin isomer; while useful, there are many applications that can benefit from low-cost access to higher parahydrogen enrichments. Here, we introduce a method of improving parahydrogen enrichment values using a liquid nitrogen-cooled generator that operates at temperatures less than 77 K. The boiling temperature of liquid nitrogen is lowered through internal evaporation into helium gas bubbles that are injected into the liquid. Changes to liquid nitrogen temperatures and parahydrogen enrichment values were monitored as a function of helium gas flow rate. The injected helium bubbles lowered the liquid nitrogen temperature to ~65.5 K, and parahydrogen enrichments of up to ~59% were achieved; this represents an ~16% improvement compared with the expected parahydrogen fraction at 77 K. This technique is simple to implement in standard liquid nitrogen-cooled parahydrogen generators and may be of interest to a wide range of scientists that require a cost-effective approach to improving parahydrogen enrichment values.

Missing Pieces in Structure Puzzles: How Hyperpolarized NMR Spectroscopy Can Complement Structural Biology and Biochemistry

Structure determination lies at the heart of many biochemical research programs. However, the "giants": X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy, molecular dynamics simulations, and nuclear magnetic resonance, among others, leave quite a few dark spots on the structural pictures drawn of proteins, nucleic acids, membranes, and other biomacromolecules. For example, structural models under physiological conditions or of short-lived intermediates often remain out of reach of the established experimental methods. This account frames the possibility of including hyperpolarized, that is, dramatically signal-enhanced NMR in existing workflows to fill these spots with detailed depictions. We highlight how integrating methods based on dissolution dynamic nuclear polarization can provide valuable complementary information about formerly inaccessible conformational spaces for many systems. A particular focus will be on hyperpolarized buffers to facilitate the NMR structure determination of challenging systems.

Reconversion of Parahydrogen Gas in Surfactant-Coated Glass NMR Tubes

The application of parahydrogen gas to enhance the magnetic resonance signals of a diversity of chemical species has increased substantially in the last decade. Parahydrogen is prepared by lowering the temperature of hydrogen gas in the presence of a catalyst; this enriches the para spin isomer beyond its normal abundance of 25% at thermal equilibrium. Indeed, parahydrogen fractions that approach unity can be attained at sufficiently low temperatures. Once enriched, the gas will revert to its normal isomeric ratio over the course of hours or days, depending on the surface chemistry of the storage container. Although parahydrogen enjoys long lifetimes when stored in aluminum cylinders, the reconversion rate is significantly faster in glass containers due to the prevalence of paramagnetic impurities that are present within the glass. This accelerated reconversion is especially relevant for nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) applications due to the use of glass sample tubes. The work presented here investigates how the parahydrogen reconversion rate is affected by surfactant coatings on the inside surface of valved borosilicate glass NMR sample tubes. Raman spectroscopy was used to monitor changes to the ratio of the (J: 0 → 2) vs. (J: 1 → 3) transitions that are indicative of the para and ortho spin isomers, respectively. Nine different silane and siloxane-based surfactants of varying size and branching structures were examined, and most increased the parahydrogen reconversion time by 1.5×-2× compared with equivalent sample tubes that were not treated with surfactant. This includes expanding the pH2 reconversion time from 280 min in a control sample to 625 min when the same tube is coated with (3-Glycidoxypropyl)trimethoxysilane.